Russia’s military has adapted and is now a more formidable enemy for Ukraine, defense analysts say

Russia’s military has been widely discredited and disparaged by the Western media since the start of its invasion of Ukraine, seen to have bungled the early phase of the war after suffering a series of setbacks and retreats.

But defense analysts at a top London-based military thinktank have investigated Russia’s tactical adaptations during the war and have noted that a more structured, coordinated and reactive armed force has emerged — and one that’s particularly strong on the defensive.

As such, Russia’s military now represents a much more formidable opponent for Ukraine as it prepares to launch a much-anticipated counteroffensive to reclaim occupied territory.

“As Ukraine prepares for offensive operations its armed forces face major tactical challenges,” Jack Watling and Nick Reynolds, specialists in land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said in their latest report, entitled “Russian Tactics in the Second Year of its Invasion of Ukraine.”

“The depth of [Russian] defences mean that Ukraine must generate serious combat power in order to penetrate the Russian lines, with the extent of Russian defensive fortifications across the front making bypassing them near-impossible,” the report, published Friday, noted.

RUSI’s Nick Reynolds told CNBC that while Russia “put themselves in a very bad position at the start of last year,” conducting what he described as massive strategic and operational blunders that deprived them of some of their best units and equipment, “since then, the Russian state and the Russian military have put themselves on more of a war footing and have been adapting.”

“In particular, a lot of systems and the way they work together are working much better than they were last year. The fact that they’re on the defensive now allows them to combine arms…